Devotionals

11 Sep Devotional Thought – The Beauty Of Delayed Blessings

"But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, Hear me in the truth of Your salvation." Psalm 69:13 It is commonly considered that prayer falls into one of two categories - those prayers that are in accordance with God's will and those prayers that are not.  However, it seems that the Psalmist here is suggesting a third category.  He tells us that there may be those prayers that are not in accordance with God's will...today. Evidently there is an acceptable time in which certain prayers may be answered, because obviously he is not suggesting that there is an "acceptable time" for us to pray. The Scripture makes it clear that our Father loves to hear His children pray even when it is not a prayer that He can respond to positively.  You see, the limitation isn't on the prayers that we prayer, but on the answers He gives.

04 Sep Devotional Thought – When The World Comes Crashing Down – Look Up!

"Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." Luke 21:28 With these words Jesus turned the entire world, and even history itself, upside down. Once these words were uttered all of the wisdom of the world's conventional commentators were forever rendered obsolete.  No longer would our earthly experience be business as usual. No! With these words our normal understanding of why and how things happen were overruled by the infinite insight of the eternal Lord.

06 Aug Devotional Thought – If It’s True It Isn’t New

"But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." 2 Corinthians 4:2 I once heard my pastor Adrian Rogers say, "If it's true it isn't new." Had the apostle Paul heard him he would have given a loud and hearty, "Amen!"  I say this because I believe this is the essence of Paul's point in this statement to the church at Corinth. I understand Paul to teach that there shouldn't be anything purely original in a revelation. When he writes about "commending ourselves to every man's conscience," I believe he's talking about commending truth to the "consciousness" of man.  Paul's point is that divine truth, like any other truth, must first speak to man's experience. It must appeal to something that the hearer already knows to be true. In other words it is "a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation."

29 May Devotional Thought – God Takes The Summer Off

The writer of Hebrews tells us not to forsake "...

22 May Devotional Thought – The Secret of Forgetting Self

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." John 15:4 No one ever becomes great simply through his own ability or personality.  Greatness is only achieved through the life of another.  Think about that for a minute. What makes a patriot so revered? It is because his life is found in the larger life of his country.  What makes the humanitarian so distinguished? It is because he’s a member of the larger body of humanity.  Why is the artist so loved? It is because his spirit is a part of the larger spirit of creation.

05 Apr Devotional Thought – Empty Things

"And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing." 1 Samuel 12:21 What a strange, and even anticlimactic, statement!  Samuel says to the people that they must not turn aside from God. That certainly makes sense, but his reason is rather startling. He says that if they deviate from following the Lord they will end up going "after empty things." Okay, I get it. They would fall for the frivolous, but is that the worst thing that could happen? Is it really all that bad that those who detour from following after God would go after those things that are "nothing"?